CBD-A + CBD extract inhibits pancreatic cancer cells in model

This is a study that built on previous work identifying CBD as a molecule that induced cancer cell death in vitro (test tube). Their primary goal was to compare different extraction methods' ability to induce "apoptosis", or cancer cell suicide in vitro for a human pancreatic cancer model. It was published in the journal Molecules in February 2022.

They used a single cultivar of CBD-dominant cannabis, and the end product was high in CBD-A and CBD. They tested ethanol extraction conditions and found that retention time of 10 days at -20 Celsius delivered over 20% more cannabinoids than shorter retention times at room temperature.

The final extract was was high in both CBD-A and CBD and contained the terpenes nerol, guaiol, and bisabolol, each of which has demonstrated some positive pro-apoptotic results in previous studies.

"we demonstrated here that CBD-rich cannabis not only activates the cell signaling cascade to lead to programmed cell death, but also causes cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase."

This was not a study on humans or animals, but on cells in a lab. Nonetheless, demonstration of increased cancer cell death with CBD-A and CBD extracts is promising. This type of research helps to stimulate more in-depth human trials.

"Our results emphasize the potential of natural products issued from medicinal hemp for pancreatic cancer therapy, as they lead to an accumulation of intracellular superoxide ions, affect the mitochondrial membrane potential, induce G1 cell cycle arrest, and ultimately drive the pancreatic cancer cell to lethal apoptosis."

The full-text study is here at MDPI.com.